


sine qua non [that without which, nothing]

by voodoochild



Category: Iskryne Series - Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Angst and Feels, Multi, Pack Bonding, Pack Dynamics, Psychic Wolves, Redemption, Road Trips, Swearing, it's sort of impending anyway, like a lot of swearing, psychic wolves do not need to make them do it, seth needs to take a good look at his life and choices
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 21:47:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13667940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voodoochild/pseuds/voodoochild
Summary: The Shield have to have wolves, there's no other choice. There's only one problem, and his name is Seth Rollins. [Fusion with EBear and Sarah Monette's "A Companion to Wolves".]





	sine qua non [that without which, nothing]

**Author's Note:**

> It's Psychic Wolves time again, guys! Super happy to contribute and brainstorm this year, because really, if you can't throw giant psychic wolves at the Shield and enjoy the fireworks, who CAN you throw them at? Much love to Petra for organizing the ficathon, and Kath and Liz for the beta and name suggestions. Title is a Latin phrase, attributed to Aristotle, and put to many excellent uses.

The Shield have to have wolves, there's no other possibility.

Wolfbrothers are pretty rare in the business - no one really likes the potentiality of their opponent having a several-hundred-pound killing machine ringside - but they're not unknown. Some of the ex-military guys like Sarge and Farooq had legitimate bonds, and they're a little more common among the Samoans and Canadians. Vince even found some way to procure a couple unbonded wolves to try and get newer guys over. It had never worked, because even the dumbest marks could spot a fake bond, but it hadn't stopped Vince trying.

So when Punk and Heyman sell Vince on the Shield gimmick, the first question on everyone's minds is how the hell they're going to find some unbonded wolves willing to pretend to be bonded, and the second question is how they're going to afford paying for it. 

(The third question should have been what they'd do if one or more of the guys couldn't find a wolfbrother, and it hadn't been.)

It was never going to be Roman that was the problem. His family has trellwolves on lockdown - they call their wolves luko, his father and uncle had been two of the few wrestlers with wolfbrothers - and maybe that was the real reason for picking Roman ahead of Chris for the stable. Roman and his wolf Taine were bonded before he ever thought of stepping into a ring, back when he was still slogging it out in football. They're seamless as a unit, and they'll sell this angle better than any promo or match ever could.

If you'd taken bets, everyone and their wolfbrother would have said no wolf of any ilk would bond with Dean Ambrose . . . and they'd have lost a lot of money.

Dean was never the problem either, not when he had teeth of his own and a wildness in his soul that any wolf would understand. He and Fen (short for Fenris, and the last person to make jokes nearly *had* gotten their hand bitten off) had met at one of the bond-attempts, a load of pups and mostly-grown strays shipped down to Florida. Dean turned out to be a total sap for the pups, rolling around on the floor with them all, but there hadn't been any signs of a bond until 2-year-old stray Fen ambled in.

They'd beelined for each other, Fen curling himself around Dean's legs and sniffing Taine. Dean had suddenly informed the handlers they could pay the fuck up, cause he was the only human crazy enough to bond their craziest wolf. Cue no one's shock that Dean and Fen also shared a wry sense of humor and a particularly foul vocabulary, and cue Fen charming everyone in the vicinity anyway.

No one had ever thought Seth would be the issue, the one that no wolf would go near. Youngest-brother, eager to please Seth, their daredevil flyer. The mediator and peacekeeper between Dean’s and Roman's battling tempers. The one who thought up most of their tactics, thought of plans D and E, saw the little details in everything. Surely he'd have a brother to bond with.

They'd tried him with every unbonded wolf in three states, and still nothing. No bond. No wolfbrother. 

Roman had thought maybe Seth was scent-blind, so the medical staff tried everything from pills to injections to special creams, and it hadn't been that. Dean had thought it was just that they hadn't looked hard enough for Seth's brother yet, drove with him up to Tennessee and Alabama and the Carolinas to tour breeding pens, with no luck. Further theorizing concluded that there's never been a flyer with a wolfbrother, maybe Seth was too risky - but anyone who'd met Bryan or AJ and their brothers would know it wasn't true.

If they'd ever asked Seth, he could have told you the truth: selling out his brothers had always been in the cards, and no wolf would stand for their human breaking that bond.

***

At the beginning, it's beyond awkward, negotiating three guys and two wolves in the cramped quarters of a single SUV or hotel room. 

It's Taine going ballistic every time he smells fried chicken, forcing them to stop and Roman to buy a dozen buckets. It's Fen chasing and killing squirrels and rats, bringing back half-eaten corpses to bury. It's the wolves forgetting that humans have concepts like modesty and shame, barging into the bathroom while Seth's using it or jerking off or showering. It's the wolves having no concept of personal space, lying atop any human they please and sticking their noses into inappropriate places.

Seth’s not going to lie, the extra expenses that come from housing and feeding and cleaning up after trellwolves are ridiculous. Hotels get real pissy and charge out the ass for rooms with the extra cots and space, if they even let them in the door. They're all getting tired of the cleaning, because Taine sheds small mountains of black fur every season and Fen's grey fur just doesn't come out of anything.

Worst, Seth thinks, is Roman and Dean occasionally forgetting their packbond doesn't extend to Seth. Jokes that he only hears the punchline to. Dean having entire one-sided conversations with Taine. Fen growling at something and Roman absently telling him to calm down. Taine snapping at Seth when he doesn't react to Roman in a match fast enough. The wolves growling in frustration when he asks a question that they think is stupid.

It becomes a more serious problem when Dusty and the bookers say they can tell there's a problem, and that the fans aren't going to buy a not-entirely-bonded Shield. Taine is so clearly Roman's brother, and Fen is so clearly Dean's, and while the lie of "no one's been good enough for our brother yet" has legs, it's not going to work for long.

Seth floats the idea one night after an FCW house show, all five of them piled on the bed in the tiny Orlando apartment which used to be Roman's and is now theirs.

"It's not going to work. I might as well go solo-"

It's alarming, being pinned by 150 pounds of displeased wolf, and Taine bares his teeth about three inches from Seth's nose. 

_[You're pack. You're ours. Don't you dare leave us.]_

"I'm not, though. I'm not bonded to you guys and I'm never gonna find my wolfbrother. It's useless to think this will work."

Roman hauls Taine back, and Dean barks out a laugh, shoves Seth hard on the chest. Fen’s whining at the bottom of the bed where he's draped over their legs. It slowly dawns on Seth that the words hadn't come from Roman or Dean, it had been a different voice. Rougher and wilder.

Dean's still laughing, and Seth sits up, staring at him. "You fucking doofus," Dean says, smacking him in the chest again. "You _heard_ Taine. How the fuck do you still think you're not pack?"

"What the shit-?" Seth starts, staring at Taine, then Roman. "Wa- was that some kind of weird Samoan voodoo?"

"Oh yeah, man, we can make people hear luko. There's a whole thing with the eyes of a goat and the person's sweat..." The sarcasm fails to register, and Roman sighs, shoves Seth's head down to scrub at his already-wrecked hair. "Dude, don't be racist, there's no Samoan voodoo. You been listening to Ariane again?" 

"Can we go back to the part where I can hear your wolf?"

_[Do you even know how to fucking read? Ugh, Dean-brother, our packmate is dumb as rocks.]_

That's Fen, and Seth knew he'd sort of sound like Dean, Roman's said as much, but Fen does resemble his human brother, just with a lower voice. He stares at Seth from the bottom of the bed, tail thwapping the duvet. 

_[Packs can adopt humans without bonds, if they want to.]_

Something in Seth's heart tightens, and he stares at his brothers, wolf and human both. "I can be pack?"

 _[Try and stop us.]_ Taine says, his grey eyes almost glowing. _[You're important to Roman-brother and Dean-brother and Fen and I want to keep you. You're pack until we say you're not pack.]_

For three whole years, through FCW and NXT and the main roster, it's enough.

Until it's not.

***

The noises from Fen almost break Seth's heart, standing there in Indianapolis, steel chair in hand. 

Taine is silent, stretched out alongside Roman, lapping at his face. Seth had known he'd have one shot at Roman, and all those miles of travel together have taught him where Roman's the weakest. That pulled lat from last year in Dayton, it still flares up, it'll keep him down for hours if someone hits it dead-on. For instance, with a steel chair and all the strength Seth can throw into it while Hunter and Randy watch in glee from the ramp.

But Fen howls, betrayed, over and over, for the words his human brother can't get out. Dean's eyes are wide, reaching out to Seth in disbelief and checking on Roman on the mat. Because he gets it - the heel turn, the selling-out to the boss - and Seth has to shut Dean's eyes and Fen's mouth. Slam the chair into Dean's stomach, across his back and shoulders over and over, until Fen goes quiet.

Walking out of the ring to join Hunter and Randy on the ramp feels like momentum. Like he's off a wheel he didn't know he was stuck on. Neither man has a wolfbrother, there's no longer the oppressive cloying feeling of pack. There's no other voices in his head, and for that first couple minutes, it feels beautiful.

(He tells himself he didn't hear the last words Fen said through the packbond - _you are the lowest of scum, you're a traitor, we'll hunt you until the end of the world_ \- and that he couldn't feel Taine's sheer blackout rage. He tells himself this every night for one thousand, two hundred fifteen days. He tells himself enough times that he almost starts to believe it.)

The wranglers surround Seth in case Fen and Taine try to attack, and he'd protested two days ago when Hunter informed him of their presence. Said no, the wolves wouldn't hurt him, there's no need for wranglers with tranq guns and nets. His chest had actually hurt at the thought, because he'd believed they'd understand, the way that the dawning comprehension had spread through Dean's expression as Seth swung the chair at Roman. 

How Seth has always yearned for bigger things. For one of the best in the business to teach him everything he knows. For world heavyweight gold around his waist. For the main event and the spotlight all on his own.

The only thing wolves understand, though, is betrayal from their bondmate.

Seeing Fen's ears laid back, teeth flashing as he growls lower than thunder? Watching Taine lift his head and snarl at Seth for the first time? Seth remembers that trellwolves aren't just brothers, they're wolves. Capable of taking him out in one quick bite or swipe of claw.

It's the beginning of years of traveling with wranglers and wearing scent-blockers. Years of paranoia, always looking over his shoulder. He knows that's what all four of them want: for him never to forget what he's done. Every time he goes out to the ring, all of the Authority's rules and bans keeping him safe, the personal security and wranglers, all he can focus on is the packbond still howling in his head.

Not voices, thank goodness, but hazy impressions. First, it's just a desperate, awful rage, oppressively overwhelming, and he spends a solid six months on dampeners just to sleep at night. It lessens, eventually, but it doesn't disappear. He knows the moment they give up on him, the day that Taine goes into rut, the first litter of pups Fen sires, the stabs of instinctive fear when Seth's injured, the begrudging pride when Seth returns and turns on the Authority.

Two years after Indianapolis, he teams with Roman again, Taine at ringside and no wranglers in sight, but it's not like it used to be. They've continued to block him out of the bond, and he has to rely on verbal interaction. At least Roman’s speaking to him. Dean wouldn't, not even during the triple threat at Battleground, and still won't.

Until months later at Survivor Series. 

Until Dean's anger at AJ Styles overwhelms them all, until Seth hears Fen plain as day through the bond:

_[Stop letting them hurt us! We're brothers, we're better, come ON.]_

Dean's being held back by the officials, still trying to swing at AJ, Fen's facing down AJ’s wolf amid a team of wranglers. And Seth looks at Roman, says through the bond as plain as he can " _yes_ ". Roman, Dean, and Seth clear the officials, clear the announce table, send AJ crashing through to the roar of the crowd and the howling of wolves. And it's almost - _almost_ \- perfect, it's almost the Shield again. In the aftermath, Dean knocks shoulders with Seth.

"Thanks, scumbag," Dean says quietly, before letting the officials remove him and Fen, and Seth will take it.

***

Wrestlemania 33 isn't his true redemption.

(It's a pretty fucking sweet night, beating Hunter with his own damn finisher in front of 75,000 people, getting a "Kingslayer" chant and putting Stephanie through a table. Twenty-five minutes that felt like hours and also like the blink of an eye, but it hadn't been the match that saved him.)

Redemption strikes when he's walking around Orlando at 3 am, still unable to sleep, leaving Roman another "hey man, tonight seemed rough for you, call me if you wanna talk" voicemail. To be more specific, it's a low whine coming from a playground across the street, the sudden scent of an electrical fire mixed with old paper, and a white trellwolf slinking out from the shadows.

A _female_ wolf. 

Roman and Dean talked about the moment they met their brothers, and Seth had never thought they were telling the truth. But they were right, you just know it in your heart, you smell your sibling and see them and know them for what they are. His sister is smaller than her packmates, but she's bigger from head to tail than he is tall. And she's amused.

 _[What took you so long, Seth-brother?]_ she asks, and her name rings in his head: Avery.

"I did stupid things," he says, reaching out to let her scent him. She knocks him on his ass on the cold ground, and feeling her nuzzle close to his chest, licking his face, makes every hopeful part of him sing. "Hurt my pack. Turned my back on my brothers. I didn't deserve a wolf."

_[Well, I say you do now. I deserve a brother and a pack. It's been so long.]_

She sends him loneliness, abandonment that cuts through him like fire. Sends him hunts with packs that weren't hers and a bone-deep knowledge that her brother was out there. He wishes he could send it to her in return, certainty he'd have a sibling, but he can only send her memories of what he'd destroyed one thousand, two hundred fifteen days ago.

(Brothers, human and wolf. Pack piles of warmth and safety and reassurance. Care for the countless injuries that come with the business. Absolute loyalty and acceptance. Sky-high happiness with the wins, feeling lower than dirt with the losses, but never, ever being alone.)

_[Too fucking long, uce. Come home.]_

Roman-and-Taine, explosion of smooth sea-soaked wood and umu-cooked fish, open and wholehearted as they always have been. It was Roman who forgave Seth first, who never stopped calling him "brother", who picked up for every "I can't do this" knee rehab call and stayed on the line. It was Taine who pushed him over to a chair and curled up with his head against Seth's belly when he first stumbled into their locker room, sending him forgiveness.

Avery's ears prick up, sheer joy exploding through her. _[Home and pack?]_

"Home for now. Pack . . . part of it, yeah."

She wants to know what's missing, and he sends her Dean-and-Fen: leather and blood-soaked sugar. Endless rage and a loneliness even pack couldn’t ease. Laughter and easy mornings, Dean making the only thing he really cooks, which is breakfast. Late nights driving to the next show, Dean singing along to Johnny Cash, Fen howling off-key. He's harder to explain than Roman, because Dean has never been straightforward in anything.

They're heading back to the hotel before he realizes it, Avery right by his side. Through the streets and into the hotel, completely ignoring the startled looks from the night staff that have not been notified of a third wolf. Until he's barely knocking on Roman's door and it's opening, Avery darting inside to tumble into Taine in glee, nipping and barking as quietly as possible.

Roman's bruised and bleary-eyed after his match with Taker, but he's smiling. And he’s not alone, because lying on the bed with Fenris across his knees, is Dean.

"You fucking did it," Dean says shakily as Fen jumps down to join the wolfpile. "You pulled the mother of all literal fucking babyface turns tonight." 

Seth tries to respond. Nothing comes out, his mouth feeling like it's full of rocks and his head echoing, and Dean sits up. Looks at him, and Seth feels the packbond open wide and true. Leather/blood/sugar, cedar/fish/seawater, electricity/smoke/paper, together again.

_[We forgive you, asshole. Believe that.]_

And then Roman's tackling him onto the bed and Dean's nosing against the crook of his neck. Solid heat surrounding him - god, he’s missed them so much, he feels like he hasn’t been warm in years - happiness and contentment and pack. He can feel their fucking heartbeats in his head, and is this what it's been like for them the whole time? No wonder they were wrapped up in each other, he thinks, and Roman growls against Seth's shoulder.

“Quit it with the regrets. We're pack, now. No matter what happens in front of the crowds, what the office says, we're pack.”

“Goddamn right,” Seth says, Avery sending her baying agreement. 

“And goddamn finally,” Dean adds, and a slow, aching forgiveness leeches through the bond.

It will be months before they can be a true pack in front of the whole world. It begins one April night in Orlando, and comes full circle on a cold fall night in Indianapolis. Dean digs out his combat vest and Roman's never stopped wearing his and Seth retrieves his from a storage unit, and the entire arena lights up with happiness when they "reunite".

Three men, three wolves, and it's as it should have been from the beginning.

**Author's Note:**

> luko = Samoan, "wolf"  
> Taine = Samoan god of the forest  
> Fenris = Norse mythology, the wolf foretold to kill Odin  
> Avery = Anglo-Saxon name meaning "wise"


End file.
